Generally speaking, the present invention relates to a timing mechanism having a digital clock to indicate cycle times of the cam means for the timing mechanism, the digital clock comprising a shaft rotatably mounted in a frame, a first coupling means coupling the cam means to the shaft for rotation with the cam means, a first display wheel carried on the shaft to be independently rotatable from the shaft, actuator means coupled to the shaft, a torsion spring coupled to the actuator means and the display wheel, stop means carried on the wheel, and a slider slideably carried in the frame and engaging the actuator means and the stop means to selectively stop rotation of the display wheel in response to the actuator means.
The present invention pertains to a timing mechanism and more particularly to a timing mechanism which has a digital clock for indicating cycle times that are provided by a cam means of the timing mechanism.
Timing mechanisms have been used for many years to control the machine functions of appliances such as washers, dryers and dishwashers. In recent years, it has been found to be desirable to provide a digital clock with the timing mechanism so that the operator of the appliance may determine the time remaining of the cycles of the timing mechanism. For example, it has been found to be desirable to use such a clock in timing mechanisms that are used in dishwashers. In such applications, apparatus needs to be provided to operate the digital clock directly from the operation of the cam means of the timing mechanism such that the time of the cycles of the cams can be accurately determined. In addition, it is necessary to keep the number of parts of the apparatus to a minimum with close tolerances for timing accuracy.